Chris Joiner had a good day for the fourth eleven against Aston Unity. Opening the batting he scored 32 and with useful contributions from Dan Ceillam of 24 and John Hough's 23 Olton posted 126 all out. This did not look quite enough, but the 4th Xi's fielding was sharp and catching excellent with 5 good catches, 2 smart stumpings and a run out. Skipper Pete Suthons grabbed the opportunity to take two wickets and then introduced Joiner to the attack and Chris's 3-11 off six overs won the game with Unity 17 runs short.

Congratulations to Dan Ceillam who scored his maiden ton this weekend in the 4th XI match versus Weoley Hill.

Dan went into bat at number 4 with the score already 70-2 in the twentieth over. There were only thirty overs left and he punished the Weoley Hill attack severely.

He was joined at 106 by older brother Matt and together they added 111 before Matt was out for a supportive 37.

Meanwhile Dan had crashed 11 fours and a six and with the last over starting Dan was off strike and needing three runs for his ton. Charlie Suthons gave him a single twice so that off the very last ball of the innings Dan needed a two which he duly scored to be 100 not out as Olton made 222-7.

The rest of the side did their part in the field particularly 16 year John Bosworth who took 6 wickest for just 3 runs as Olton bowled them out for 72 to win by 150 runs and go top of the table.

Olton played their first match at their new ground on Sat May 10th against local rivals Knowle Village.

Knowle Village had the honour of batting first on the new track and scored 143-9. The pitch played true and with good bounce, though the outfield was a little long. Until the ground dries out, the scores may be a little on the low side.

John Bosworth took three wickets as did Chris Joiner.

Olton chased the total confidently and John Arnold had the honour of hitting the first six on the ground in his cameo innings of 15. Club chairman Phil Vann sampled the new ground and was delighted as his 41 not out showed as he steered the side home by 3 wickets with three overs to spare.

And on Sunday Olton entertained Tividale.

Olton 4th XI fought hard on a sluggish pitch to win their first league match of the season on Saturday at the newly formed Rushall 3rds.

Fielding first (eventually with a full complement following the late arrival of Paul "Satnav" Ceillam and son Dan), Olton battled to restrict Rushall to 147-6. Pick of the attack was John Bosworth, in his first game for the club, who bowled with impressive accuracy and extracted surprising bounce to finish with 2 for 21. Youngsters Dan Ceillam, Charlie Suthons and David Adams also bowled tightly mid-innings. "Senior" bowler Ken Paver (in the sense that he is older than most of the rest of the attack put together) delivered a mixed bag ("licorice allsorts" was the phrase used by skipper John Hough), particularly during a tired-looking second spell, to finish with figures of 15-2-56-3. He is currently believed to be resting somewhere in the Olton area.

Fortified by a dashing 52 from opener Jason Allsop, Rushall deployed the traditional "big lad at number 7" in an effort to boost their total. However, deft captaincy from Hough, and a second tight spell from Bosworth, ensured that Olton never let the innings run away from them.

Olton's reply began with Chris Joiner his usual serene self, and Tim Joiner striking the ball sweetly through the off side for a fluent 32. Paul Ceillam hit hard and straight on his way to a rapid 26, before Scott Danter was unluckily run out, undone by a combination of Paver's unnecessarily tight call and a direct hit from side-on. However, Tom "Acocks" Cullen and John Hough came together to see Olton over the finishing line without further alarm. Hough played the elder statesman role to perfection, while Cullen showed impressive maturity, defending carefully when necessary against some tight bowling, and hitting strongly through the off-side when the opportunity arose. In short, an object lesson in how to close out a match on a slow wicket by using the overs available.

All that remained was to enact one of cricket's time-honoured rituals: the 8.15 pm mobile phone call: "Hello, I'm still in Rushall. What? The other side of Walsall. I know it's in Staffordshire..."

Kennedy Paver is 43.